Mount Union go DI already

[downbythebeach]

I know this isn't FCS but........

I try to watch D3 football whenever I get the opportunity and always watch the championship game.
Anyway it seems like every year it is the same old boring teams.
Mount Union and UW-Whitewater
This year UWW is not so great but Mount Union is just bullying the playoff competition.

They just won a D3 quarterfinal playoff game 72-17
They scored 30 points in the second quarter against one of the best teams in D3

At what point do they move up or get kicked out?

[GoAgs72]

Some teams just like to be the big fish in a small pond, plus they may not have the money to move up all sports.

[Tim James]

D3 football is boring and uninteresting. D2 is much better.

[downbythebeach]

D3 football is boring and uninteresting. D2 is much better.

Especially when it is a beat down every year.
and all the good teams are purple????xlolx

[ITmonarch10]

D3 football might as well be called the UW-Whitewater vs Mount Union invitational.

[ngineer]

How can a program in a division that does not give scholarships be so dominant? Just seems something odd at work there.

[melloware13]

Despite not offering scholarships, these programs can still recruit the players to get experience playing on a "national" level, and it allows them to continue playing through college.

[Tubakat2014]

How can a program in a division that does not give scholarships be so dominant? Just seems something odd at work there.

Can't claim to know much more than you do about Mount Union, but I'd have to guess it's a continuous cycle. They win (and win big), which draws in high quality players. The more high quality players they get, the more they win, the more they draw in the caliber of players that wouldn't normally choose to play for a D3 school, which means they win more, etc, etc, etc. Imagine an FCS school consistently drawing in SEC-caliber players- that seems like an appropriate analogy. Again, I'm really just talking out of my butt- I don't know their secret sauce.

[Franks Tanks]

How can a program in a division that does not give scholarships be so dominant? Just seems something odd at work there.

I believe it has been 7 straight years of Mt. Union and Whitewater in the D-III championship game.

Mt Union brings in 50 plus kids a year. Ohio has tons of solid kids that want to play D-III college football, and Mt Union just gets all the best available. Their head coach is excellent, but he of course has the players.

[taper]

Just because they dominate DIII football doesn't mean the school can bring all sports even to scholarship DII, much less DI.

[bonarae]

Although football is the king of Mount Union's sports, but what about their other sports' success? I don't think they'll go way up the ladder and succeed in all. (See transitionary programs' performances in men's college basketball, for instance)

BTW UW-Whitewater isn't taking part in the playoffs, hence it'll be Mount Union vs. anybody else who has survived thus far...

[penguinpower]

Mt union is 20 miles South of Youngstown and they get many of our recruits. It sucks the we have to compete against them as well as Kent, Akron, Ohio State, Duquense, Pitt etc.. It isn't even competitive in D3. Good points to the topic starter.

[Tubakat2014]

Mt union is 20 miles South of Youngstown and they get many of our recruits. It sucks the we have to compete against them as well as Kent, Akron, Ohio State, Duquense, Pitt etc.. It isn't even competitive in D3. Good points to the topic starter.

I guess it comes down to certain players wanting to be a big fish in a small pond. It's all about personal preference, I suppose. Out of curiosity- any cases where a player that Ohio State was recruiting decided to attend Mount Union? I feel stupid asking and I think I know the answer, but stranger things have happened.

Thanks for the local input!

[Twentysix]

Mt union is 20 miles South of Youngstown and they get many of our recruits. It sucks the we have to compete against them as well as Kent, Akron, Ohio State, Duquense, Pitt etc.. It isn't even competitive in D3. Good points to the topic starter.

Does mount union offer a "better quality education" by the perception of the locals?

[Lehigh'98]

Does mount union offer a "better quality education" by the perception of the locals?

Yes. Not really a perception, they are rated higher by all academic standards.

[NoCoDanny]

It's like the Utah factor, oh they were bad *** playing a Mountain West schdule but make them play a BCS conference team every week and they suck huge balls.

[Laker]

St. Thomas has now bypassed St. John's in Minnesota. Their games are on WCCO clear channel radio, the station that used to be the flagship for the Twins, Gophers and Vikings and still does the T-Wolves. Great facilities, great all around programs.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Yes. Not really a perception, they are rated higher by all academic standards.

Ah yes, the mighty infalliable rankings have spoken. Youngstown, thou art a diploma factory in the face of the great Mount Union. xlolx

[PhillyApp1]

How can a program in a division that does not give scholarships be so dominant? Just seems something odd at work there.

Its easy...i have a friend that was a running back for Mt Union.....Most of their oline and dline are guys that did not want to sit on the bench at Ohio State...Mt Union is like a private school in philly with money and connections that carrry you for life. Financial aid is also very heavy. Mt Union grads are well connected after graduation.

[Franks Tanks]

Its easy...i have a friend that was a running back for Mt Union.....Most of their oline and dline are guys that did not want to sit on the bench at Ohio State...Mt Union is like a private school in philly with money and connections that carrry you for life. Financial aid is also very heavy. Mt Union grads are well connected after graduation.


Really? I find that hard to believe. If they didn't want to sit on the bench at OSU they could've went to Kent, Miami, Toldeo, Akron, Bowling Green or Ohio. There are probably a dozen private schools in Ohio better than Mt Union.


Dayton, Case Western Reserve, Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, College of Wooster, Marietta, John Carroll University, Xavier (no football however), Baldwin-Wallace.

Mt Union has an acceptance rate of 72%. It is not very hard to get into and not very distinguised academically. Basically they must give good financial aid, and kids want to go there and win. It is a monster, but I highly doubt kids are turning down scholarships from MAC schools to play at Mt Union.